The objective of this study is to assess the findings of selected articles regarding the therapeutic effects of yoga and to provide a comprehensive review of the benefits of regular yoga practice. As participation rates in mind-body fitness programs such as yoga continue to increase, it is important for health care professionals to be informed about the nature of yoga and the evidence of its many therapeutic effects. Thus, this manuscript provides information regarding the therapeutic effects of yoga as it has been studied in various populations concerning a multitude of different ailments and conditions. Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions and involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional and spiritual pain, suffering or limitations. Results from this study show that yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.

Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of addition of integrated yoga therapy to therapeutic exercises in osteoarthritis (OA) of knee joints. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective randomized active control trial. A total of t participants with OA of knee joints between 35 and 80 years (yoga, 59.56 ± 9.54 and control, 59.42 ± 10.66) from the outpatient department of Dr. John's Orthopedic Center, Bengaluru, were randomly assigned to receive yoga or physiotherapy exercises after transcutaneous electrical stimulation and ultrasound treatment of the affected knee joints. Both groups practiced supervised intervention (40 min per day) for 2 weeks (6 days per week) with followup for 3 months. The module of integrated yoga consisted of shithilikaranavyayama (loosening and strengthening), asanas, relaxation techniques, pranayama, meditation and didactic lectures on yama, niyama, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga for a healthy lifestyle change. The control group also had supervised physiotherapy exercises. A total of 118 (yoga) and 117 (control) were available for final analysis. Results: Significant differences were observed within (P < 0.001, Wilcoxon's) and between groups (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney U-test) on all domains of the Short Form-36 (P < 0.004), with better results in the yoga group than in the control group, both at 15 ^th day and 90 ^th day. Conclusion: An integrated approach of yoga therapy is better than therapeutic exercises as an adjunct to transcutaneous electrical stimulation and ultrasound treatment in improving knee disability and quality of life in patients with OA knees.

Background: Relaxation techniques like meditation have been found to be beneficial in reducing stress. Aim: The aim was to find out the effect of the Integrated Amrita Meditation (IAM) technique on the response to life changes. Materials and Methods: The IAM technique, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) technique, and the Life Changes Questionnaire (LCQ) were used. LCQ was culturally adapted to the Indian population. One hundred and fifty subjects were randomized into IAM, PMR, and Control groups. LCQ scores were documented in all groups at 0 h, 48 h, 2 months, and 8 months after the training. Statistics Analysis: Within groups, comparison was done by the paired t-test and between groups by ANCOVA. Results: The new LCQ was analyzed using split-half reliability and was found to be having a correlation coefficient 0.96. On within group analysis, the IAM group showed a significant decrease in LCQ scores (P = 0.004) in the second visit which was maintained in the third (P = 0.003) and fourth visits (P = 0.001). Within the PMR group, there was a significant decrease (P = 0.006) in the third visit and fourth visits (P = 0.001). No significant change was seen within the control group in any of the visits. The decrease in LCQ scores in the IAM group was significant at the end of 8 months when compared to the Control group (P < 0.05) whereas the decrease in the PMR group was not significant in comparison with the control group. Conclusion: The IAM technique is an efficient tool in reducing stress as measured by LCQ.

Background: Numerous scientific studies have reported beneficial physiological changes after short- and long-term yoga training. Suryanamaskar (SN) is an integral part of modern yoga training and may be performed either in a slow or rapid manner. As there are few studies on SN, we conducted this study to determine the differential effect of 6 months training in the fast and slow versions. Materials and Methods: 42 school children in the age group of 12-16 years were randomly divided into two groups of 21 each. Group I and Group II received 6 months training in performance of slow suryanamaskar (SSN) and fast suryanamaskar (FSN), respectively. Results: Training in SSN produced a significant decrease in diastolic pressure. In contrast, training in FSN produced a significant increase in systolic pressure. Although there was a highly significant increase in isometric hand grip (IHG) strength and hand grip endurance (HGE) in both the groups, the increase in HGE in FSN group was significantly more than in SSN group. Pulmonary function tests showed improvements in both the groups though intergroup comparison showed no significance difference. Maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximum expiratory pressure increased significantly in both the groups with increase of MIP in FSN group being more significant than in SSN. Conclusion: The present study reports that SN has positive physiological benefits as evidenced by improvement of pulmonary function, respiratory pressures, hand grip strength and endurance, and resting cardiovascular parameters. It also demonstrates the differences between SN training when performed in a slow and fast manner, concluding that the effects of FSN are similar to physical aerobic exercises, whereas the effects of SSN are similar to those of yoga training.

Background: Yoga has been shown to have many short-term health benefits, but little is known about the extent to which these benefits accrue over a long time frame or with frequent practice. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which body mass index (BMI) and medication use in a sample of female yoga practitioners over 45 years varied according to the length and frequency of yoga practice. Materials and Methods: We administered online surveys to 211 female yoga practitioners aged 45 to 80 years. We used regression analyses to evaluate the relationship of extent of yoga experience to both BMI and medication use after accounting for age and lifestyle factors. We also conducted comparisons with 182 matched controls. Results: Participants had practiced yoga for as long as 50 years and for up to 28 hours per week. There were significant inverse relationships between yoga experience and both BMI and medication load. These significant relationships remained after accounting for age and lifestyle factors. When we computed yoga experience in terms of total calendar years, without accounting for hours of practice, significant relationships did not remain. However, there was no obesity in the 49 participants with more than 25 years of yoga practice. Yoga practitioners were less likely than non-practitioners to use medication for metabolic syndrome, mood disorders, inflammation, and pain. Conclusions: A long-term yoga practice was associated with little or no obesity in a non-probability sample of women over 45 years. Relationships showed a dose-response effect, with increased yoga experience predicting lower BMI and reduced medication use.

Background : Research has shown the growing importance of stress relaxation practices (SRPs) in many noncommunicable diseases. But there is little information on the prevalence of SRPs in Indian population. Objectives: To study the prevalence of different types of SRPs and their sociodemographic profile. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, India. One ward from each zone of the city was selected by stratified sampling. All individuals above 20 years were included in the study. Detailed information regarding different SRPs practiced by the participants was collected in a standard pretested proforma by house-to-house survey. Univariate regression analysis was applied to compare the groups. Results : Of 1157 persons surveyed, 904 were included in the final analysis. Of these, 310 (34.3%) were doing SRPs and 594 (65.7%) were not doing any type of SRPs. Respondents doing SRPs were compared with non-SRP group. Significant (P<0.05) differences were noticed between the two groups; in females, it was (SRP 58.4% vs non-SRP 49.8%) in the age group 40 to 59 years (44.2 vs 33.8%), those from sedentary occupation (93.9% vs 85.4%), the persons belonging to upper socioeconomic status (70.6% vs 61.8%), and living in central and western zones (66.5% vs 24.6%) and had less number of diabetes (SRP 10.8% vs non-SRP 19.7%) and hypertension (20.7% vs 34.2%). People doing SRPs were able to maintain balance between work and other activities than non-SRPs group (198/310, 63.9% vs 42/594, 7.1%). Among SRPs, majority (243, 78.4%) were involved in religious activities followed by yoga, 36(11.6%), and meditation, 15 (4.8%). Conclusion: Persons practicing SRPs in Ahmedabad are more likely to be above 40 years of age, females, college educated, in sedentary occupation, from upper and middle class, married and living in new-west and central zones, and were less likely to have diabetes and hypertension as compared with those who do not practice SRPs.

Objective: Certain psychological and health variables are commonly measured in India. This study evaluates the effects of integral yoga practices on these variables and also the consistency of correlations observed between them. Materials and Methods: The study was a pre-post intervention study. The variables were measured at the beginning and the end of a one-month yoga course. There was no control group.The study was carried out at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) University, in its rural campus south of Bangalore. Based on health criteria, 108 subjects were selected out of 198 volunteers to form the experimental yoga group. Ages ranged from 17 to 63 years. The yogasanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), relaxation techniques, meditation, chanting and lectures were the components of yoga intervention. The variables measured were sustained attention, emotional intelligence - EQ, general health - GHQ, guna personality - sattva, rajas and tamas. Results: Significant pre-post changes were found in all variables. Significant correlations were found between the following pairs: The two sustained attention variables; emotional intelligence and general health; GHQ and tamas; sattva and tamas; and rajas and tamas. Conclusion: The study shows that there were significant changes in all variables (P< 0.001) except in sattva. It also confirms that EQ and general health variables correlate significantly with each other and negatively with tamas. EQ and tamas form positive and negative predictors of health respectively. Sattva correlates positively with EQ suggesting that a sattvic personality indicates better self-control. This suggests that, by improving guna personality, long-term yoga practice may stabilize EQ.